Rumor Has It
by Shade Penn
Summary: Requested Birthday Fic for Vanessa Masters. Slash!


**A/N: This is just a simple fluffy pairing, which I think is a bit of a break from the usual types I tend to write. Anyway, I had this requested to me a while ago, but every time I tried to write something down, I just couldn't get any inspiration until lately and even then I had to work on it.**

**Happy late birthday, Vanessa! I hope you like this.**

* * *

The first time Peter had heard the rumor floating around, he brushed it off. It was during the Rhino incident and he'd had other things on his mind, while he was just thinking that his fellow students were just grasping for something to gossip about. The second time he'd heard it, the news came out of Flash's mouth as he heckled him; apparently he _had_ lightened up with bullying the other kids, but Peter seemed to remain his only target now. How lovely.

The final straw was when he'd heard a variation come from big mouth Jameson's broadcasting. Blabbed all over the city, where everyone could hear it on the giant screen in Time Square and people's own homes, was the question which would be under heavy scrutiny for days: were Spider-Man and Power Man together?

Peter had almost laughed at the incredulity of it all, they were just _now_ noticing? Instead, he'd thought that while it would blow over in a few days until people were left with the next big thing, he had to think about whether or not confirming if Peter and Luke were a couple would resonant with the Spidey and Power Man thing.

No one would likely make the connection, if for the simple fact that there was no reason for it, but to be safe, Spidey and Power Man would have to stay separated until things died down.

"Well this sucks." Luke said upon Peter telling him what they'd have to do until the heat died down.

Both were sitting together on the couch, watching a football game on the television, but as their conversation was bound to take up much of the time, the game had been practically forgotten. In the kitchen they could hear the rest of their team opening the fridge, or looking through the cupboards to give them their 'private time.'

Peter could still remember when he'd told his aunt about him and Luke, and she'd been a bit apprehensive with him living in the house, worrying that they could get up to something in the middle of the night. Peter's very flustered shout of "Aunt May!" had her chuckling though, but he was still willing to bet that she'd convinced the other team members to keep things PG while she wasn't around.

It still made him flustered to think about that.

"I know it does." Peter replied calmly. "But think about it, if we _officially _come out of the closet, and then do the same thing with our superhero personas, one of our classmates is going to notice something's up-even if their thinking is completely unrelated to the fact we _are_ them."

Luke rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "True." He admitted. "So while our superhero selves are chilling separately, the two of us are what, doing the same thing?"

Peter smiled slowly. "Actually, I have just the thing."

"You better not be talking about sex!"

Peter flushed and Luke chuckled. "Shut it, Sam, no one asked you!" Peter shouted.

"Does that mean were _going_ to?" Luke questioned.

Peter's face turned a deeper shade of red, but he nonetheless explained his plan.

* * *

Though they'd gone over the details for what felt like dozens of times, Peter still felt as flustered as the first time he'd worked up the guts to ask Luke out. Ever since the Android incident, they'd been managing to get along better, and eventually Peter noticed something had changed, so he had taken a chance.

It was only by sheer luck that Luke hadn't been oblivious too, but their first date had been one big moment of awkwardness because they simply had no idea what to do and the rest of their teammates had tried to muscle in on what they thought was team bonding because of the movie and popcorn they'd seen. It was even more awkward to explain to them that this was their _private_ time, and that they had to leave them alone for the evening.

Glancing around at his fellow students, Peter was now all-too-aware of how many people looked his way once they noticed where he was headed. He felt his face flush as he tapped Luke on the shoulder, and just like they'd practiced, the other boy glanced down at him with surprise.

"Yeah, Pete, what is it?" he questioned.

"Do you want to go out with me?" Peter rushed out, feeling tongue-tied and his face was practically on fire. "I mean, do you want to go out with me?" he repeated more slowly.

Luke looked at him with fond amusement while Sam rolled his eyes at Peter's screw up in the background. "Sure, we can go out later tonight if you want."

Peter smiled at him. "I'd like that."

When he turned back around, Peter found that several of the students looked away. He tried not to smirk as he walked down the hall toward his next class.

* * *

It had taken a few days, but when the attention to Spider-Man and Power Man had died down, Peter leaned against Luke's shoulder and chuckled. "It looks like Jameson's gone back to just calling me a menace now."

Luke snorted, but let out a soft laugh all the same. "Do you really want to talk about that when we could be doing something else?"

Peter raised his head to meet Luke's eyes, and grinned at him. "You mean something like this?" he asked raising his head to kiss the other boy lightly.

"Yeah, _something_ like that." Luke said smirking and leaned back down for another kiss.

"It's too quiet, what are you two doing?!"

Both Luke and Peter froze, their faces set in annoyance as they glared off toward the kitchen. "Shut it, Sam!"


End file.
